HELEN THOMPSON is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK. Her most recent book is Might, Right, Prosperity and Consent: Representative Democracy and the International Economy 1919-2001.

• Introduction Asian Savings and American Borrowing The Domestic Politics of American Home Ownership Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Boom The Crisis of 2007-8 Conclusions Index

HELEN THOMPSON is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK. Her most recent book is Might, Right, Prosperity and Consent: Representative Democracy and the International Economy 1919-2001.

• Introduction Asian Savings and American Borrowing The Domestic Politics of American Home Ownership Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Boom The Crisis of 2007-8 Conclusions Index